


Chasing After Time

by ivoryjane



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Change for the Better, Cursed Child, M/M, bravery with a dash of stupidity, it's a best friends thing, or die while trying to, time-travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2017-05-23
Packaged: 2018-11-04 03:50:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10982751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivoryjane/pseuds/ivoryjane
Summary: Perhaps they were created to change something bigger than themselves, make something of this world that just kept on working against them. Or maybe they were just not meant to be happy, dealing with one trail after another, battling against time and a faith that they cannot avoid. Then again, they had always been awfully stubborn and paired with a couple of others as stubborn as themselves they just might be able to become the masters of their own faith. They really have no choice, because if they lose, there would be no second chances.





	Chasing After Time

July 28th, 1995

For days now, it was all the same. They would gather for a meeting and the same words would be spoken and the same arguments would be fought, a useless attempt to reason with those who were unwilling to listen to the voice of others – too caught up in their own thoughts and their own wishes. He listens, praying for a change, a break, freedom.

Minutes were turning to hours and hours were turning into days, but he could still see how things were going to be left unchanged. Too stubborn, too powerful to fight against. Sirius was feeling as if he was being driven up the wall, back in a prison that left nothing but memories to hunt him in the days and in the nights.

Sometimes he wondered why he was even listening, what was stopping him from shifting and running out of the front door. Running for freedom. Running for Harry.

_Harry_.

That was why he was doing this, why he was putting up with being locked inside this way. He was putting up with it for the chance to see Harry once again. To spend even a little time with his godson and perhaps make up for all the lost time, for not having been there for him from the very start and when Harry had needed him the most.

“Sirius,” a familiar soft voice whispered and the hollowed man turns to look at the ragged one sitting next to him. Remus didn’t have to speak or ask, it was just the look in his eyes that made Sirius feel even a little bit better, he was stuck, confined but he was not alone. He smiled, a small and unhappy smile, before turning his eyes away and back to the meeting. Here for another day passing by.

Then the meeting was over and people began to leave, some accepted Molly’s kind invitation for dinner and stayed behind, chattering as if they had no worries, only the dark shadows in their eyes a sign of the worry lingering inside.

He sighed, putting his head down into his hands. An insane man, helpless, hopeless, useless.

“Sirius,” Remus’ voice whispered again, but at first the man does not look up. “Sirius,” he whispered again, this time more urgently and placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “There is someone here,” he said once Sirius looked up at him.

Confused, Sirius’ eyes narrowed at his friend. “There are a lot of someones here, Moony,” he said, yet his voice copied the whispering tone of the other.

“There is someone who shouldn’t be here,” he explained farther. “Out in the hallway, I can smell them.” Usually, Sirius would have made a joke, but with the tired look on Remus’ face and the full moon only a few days away, even he knew that it was not the time. More so, the words were somewhat of a threat.

The man got up to his feet, Remus soon followed him as they slowly walked outside, with the kids down for dinner neither wanted to cause any alarm. “Them?” Sirius asked, eyes scanning the seemingly empty hall.

“Two,” Remus answered, eyes piercing as they looked right into a spot near the staircase. “Show yourselves,” he spoke, his voice quiet and yet harsh, demanding.

For a moment, there was nothing, but then there was a ripple at the air, one both men were familiar with as the fabric was removed to reveal two hooded shapes. They stared for a moment at the cloak now folded over one of their arms and in a moment, both men had their wands out.

A second passed and the strangers move, but they simply raised their hands slightly to reveal they are unarmed. One of them had his hands covered in white bandages but Remus could smell it, the blood that’s hidden beneath them. The other was wearing leather gloves to hide his hands, why Remus could not tell.

“Can we speak?” one of them said, his voice low and gentle. “Preferably not where we can be overheard?” he continued, waiting. He was standing in front of the one with the bandages and both Sirius and Remus could recognize the protectiveness in his stance. “If it helps, my wand is in the left pocket of my cloak, summon it, a guarantee we wish you no harm,” he whispered.

Sirius acts first and with a flick of his wrist, a wand comes flying out of the stranger’s cloak. “Your friend?” he asked and for a quick moment, the two hooded figures glance at one another, then they turned their eyes back to the front.

The other stranger doesn’t speak, but ever so slowly he moved his left hand and pulled out his wand, letting it drop to the ground as he rolled it over. It doesn’t take much to see that the other is uncomfortable with the idea.

Remus moved to pick up the one before his eyes focus on Sirius, obviously considering what could still be a trap. They could go to the kitchen, call on the remaining order members, but that would mean involving the kids, neither liked that idea all that much.

“Up the stairs,” Sirius said, using his wand to point at the two hooded strangers. They only hesitate for a second, but they listened. Neither marauder lower their wand as they made their way upstairs and into the library.

It is Remus who locked the door behind the four of them, gaze quickly turning to the strangers, his wand held tightly in his hand. “Who are you?” he asked, eyes narrowed and a growl to his voice. “How did you get here?”

The two of them exchange glances once more before one of them steps forward, he is the one who had spoken, the one with the leather gloves. He seemed unsure, but he raised his hands and pushed his hood back.

Neither Remus or Sirius were sure of what to expect but the visual in front of them was nothing they would have guessed.

“Harry?” Sirius’ voice his shaky as he stared at the boy in front of him. The resemblance was uncanny, his dark hair a mess atop his head, his almond eyes piercing green but there were things that did not fit, he was too tall, he wore no glasses but more than that, the skin of his forehead was smooth.

“Not quite,” the boy answered, a small smile on his lips. “Although, I’ve been told on a few occasions that I do look like him a lot,” he said, a small hint of resentment lingering in his voice. “My name is Albus, and we’ll currently just say that it’s another small coincidence,” he said, the corner of his lips curling upwards. “I know that I seem like nothing but an enemy in this situation, but I wish neither of you any harm. In fact, I,” he stopped, emerald eyes looking backwards. “We need your help.”

“Your friend is injured,” Remus said before Sirius could say anything. “I can smell the blood,” he added, eyes lingering on the still hooded figure.

Albus sighed and nodded his head, “yes, I tried to help but neither of us know much of healing spells, nor do we have any potions with us,” the worry in his voice was clear, the haughtiness formally in his stance gone.

“Why come to us? Why not go to St. Mangu’s?” Sirius asked, his eyes narrowed, still focused on the Harry-look-alike.

“We can’t,” the other boy spoke, his voice different than his friend’s, soft and ringing. “Neither of us is meant to be here, here we do not exist,” his words were vague and he was yet to remove his hood.

“Here?” Remus questioned, one eyebrow raised. “What does it mean?”

“Here, as in 1995,” Albus was the one to answer that. Unsurprised when another gaze had been turned this way.

Sirius could not hide the chuckle that escaped his lips, it was dark and maniac, a scar left from Azkaban. “You expect us to believe you’re time travelers?” his wand is raised once more, directed right at _Albus_. “You must think we’re stupid, who are you?”

“I know that it is hard to believe, _Padfoot_ ,” he said, turning his eyes to Remus next. “ _Moony_ ,” he added with a small nod. “But hear us out, time travel is quite possible in our time, yet we did not mean to travel back-“

“-Again,” the other cut him off, receiving a small glare from Albus.

“Again,” he said with a shake of his head. “Yet, we’re stuck here, think about a year and a half ago, at Hogwarts when you were still on the run. _Harry_ casted the patronus charm, a stag, a copy of James’ Potter animagus form. How he and Hermione traveled to save you and the Hippogriff-“

“-Buckbeak,” the other supplied.

“Yes, Buckbaek. How you escaped, you called Hermione the brightest witch of her age, you promised d-Harry that the two of you would get to live together,” he finished, a hopeful look in his eyes.

“How can you know that?” Sirius asked, his wand now lowered. “Who told you that?”

Albus sighed, although his eyes were still on Remus’ raised wand. “Hermione did, not yours but the one in our time,” he explained. “I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s the truth.”

“You said that it’s not your first time travel,” Remus said and Albus sighed.

“Well, yes, we travelled back to 1994 a couple of times, when we were younger. We thought that we could save Cedric Diggory, but…” he sighed, the sadness in his voice clear. “Some things are set and cannot be changed without creating a ripple in time.”

A silence filled the room at that, only broken by the small thump as the hooded boy sat down, his breathing a bit ragged. Panic took over Albus’ eyes, “please, we’ll answer all of your questions, but help him.”

Remus and Sirius exchanged a look at that, what they were told was not a simple thing to accept, yet what they knew may be just enough to give the boys the help they seek.

“I’ll be right back,” Sirius said with a small nod to Remus, his steps quick as he left the library, closing the door behind him.

Remus moved forward and stopped in front of the hooded boy. “Are you the son of an enemy?” he asked, taking to why he, unlike Albus, did not remove his hood. The boy simply nodded, his shoulders shaking slightly. “May I?” he asked, pointing at the hood. Remus knew that in this situation he did not have to ask, but he could smell how nervous and perhaps even afraid the boy in front of him was.

He could see those silver eyes looking at him, cautious but the boy nodded still. Removing the hood, Remus had not been able to stop the small gasp that escaped him. If Albus was Harry’s look-alike, then this other boy was Draco Malofy’s duplicate.

For a moment, he froze, but those eyes kept piercing him and there was something in them that made Remus’ heart clench. There was so much sorrow in them, so much fear.

Shaking his head, Remus broke the eye contact, moving to pull up the blonde’s sleeve and reveal the long and blood stained bandages covering his arms. “A curse,” the boy explained, his voice soft and firm despite his heavy breathes. Remus nodded and began removing the bandages as slowly as he could, admiring the boy in front of him for not flinching despite the pain and discomfort he must be in.

“Bloody hell,” Sirius’ voice echoed as he returned to the room. His eyes fixed on the blonde, but before he could comment on the boy who could have been his relative, his eyes grew even wider. “Shit, this is some serious curse,” his eyes were now focused on the boy’s arms.

What had once been smooth pale skin had been replaced by burns and exposed flesh, arms eaten by whatever spell had been cast upon him.

“It actually looks better,” Albus said, worry in his voice as his gaze moved to meet Sirius’. “You could have seen the bone earlier,” he gave the detail and both adult shiver at the thought.

“How old are you?” Remus asked, both were boys, still young, neither of them should be involved in something that could end up like this.

“Seventeen, so technically we’re adults,” the blonde said, the corner of his lips twitching as Remus began to apply one of the lotions Sirius had brought. “My name is Scorpius by the way,” he added, unable to stop a groan of pain. “Usually it’s Albus’ job to look like a mess really, he’s a bit a klutz, he’s really something,” he said, obviously trying to talk to distract himself from the pain.

“I do not look like a bloody mess all of the time,” Albus commented with a huff, his eyes still worried as they looked at his friend.

“Yes, you do, but we can at least try to fix it if you would allow me to help with your hair,” Scorpius answered, trying and failing to smile.

Albus pointed at his head, “this is not meant to be tamed, thank you very much,” he said, a smile spreading on his lips. Looking at the two boys Sirius almost smiled, if he saw them anywhere else, if the situation had been different, he would have said that they reminded him of him and James back when they were Hogwarts’ students, before everything.

“How did you two meet?” he asked, perhaps it wasn’t what he or Remus wanted to know, but he wanted to keep the blonde talking, to keep him distracted while Remus worked on his arms. He knew it could still be a trap, but something inside of him told him that he could trust those impossible boys.

“I used him for his sweets,” Albus said with a chuckle. “How did it go? The thing you had said when Rose and I met you on the train?” he turned his attention to Scorpius.

The other boy cleared his throat, “Mum always said ‘ _sweets are the best way to make new friends’_ ,” he said it in a sing-a-song tone, a small smile on his lips. “Then you also made a comment about how I actually have a nose and how it makes the rumors invalid,” he added with a fond smile.

“Yeah, a nose that looks just like your dad’s,” Albus answered with a fond chuckle, moving to stand next to his friend and drawing circles on his back, trying to be of comfort to him. “Then when everyone whispered about me after sorting or when Rose and James wouldn’t speak with me, you started to talk about this book you’ve read to distract me,” he said with a bright smile.

Scorpius smiled, “and the many times you tried to hide the things people wrote over my things, trying to stop me from seeing it so I won’t get hurt,” his voice was soft. Looking at the two boys, Sirius knew that there was something more that was being left unsaid at that moment and he sighed.

“Why didn’t you get back at the bullies?” he asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

Remus snorted at him, slowly starting to wrap new bandages over one of Scorpius’ arms. “Not everyone feel the need to prank people as a payback, Sirius,” he said.

“Yeah, we’re not big on pranks, with our luck, we would just end up pranking ourselves,” Scorpius said and for a moment it looked as if Albus wanted to protest, but eventually voted against it.

“Come on, it’s just about the planning, I’m sure you would have been able to,” Sirius said, almost whiny as he looked at the boys.

Albus smiled, “that’s what I tried to tell him,” he said with a shake of his head. “But Scorpius is too nice and a terrible liar,” he said, gaze once again on his blonde friend. “No matter what people say, he’s just too nice for his own good,” it may sound weird at this moment but Albus knew just how much Scorpius needed to hear that.

“Then why does such a nice boy gets mixed in a curse like this one?” Remus asked, moving to clean the blood from his hands as both of Scorpius’ arms had been wrapped in new clean bandages.

Quiet filled the room and for a moment, no one moved. Then Albus looked away, hands clutching into fists as he started to pace, eyes refusing to meet anyone. “Because of me,” was the answer given.

“It’s not your fault,” Scorpius said, not allowing the dark haired boy to continue as he turned his eyes to the old wizards in front of him. “When we first time travelled, we did it with the help of this woman, she manipulated us and the fact that we wanted to help, she wanted to create a world where Voldemort was the one in control,” his words were dark and his gaze. “I guess that through a lot of dumb luck and the help of our fathers we managed to stop her, but she said then that she would one day be back for us, that she won’t let us win,” he was looking at his bandage arms.

“She cursed you then?” Sirius asked, he wanted to say how impossible the story sounded but with the knowledge of what his godson had gone through, he knew that sometimes kids found himself in difficult situations like that, once that were never meant for them.

“No, she didn’t,” Albus said, the darkness in his eyes. “She merely made sure it was activated,” he still refused to turn and look at them, unable to meet their questioning eyes.

“A cursed object?” Remus asked, but the blonde simple shook his head, looking down at his hands.

“No,” Albus said, glaring at the wall. “A Blood Curse and if we fixed it, if we make sure it doesn’t kill him, we walk right into a prophesy that is said to condemned the world into darkness and all because I just had to prove that I’m not my father.”


End file.
